Whole Wheat Bread vs. White Whole Wheat Bread: Which is Best?

In the latest Tuesday Food Face-Off, I'm comparing whole wheat bread with the new option of white whole wheat bread. Are they they same nutritionally but just different colors? Read on to find out!

Whole grains are supposed to make up at least 50% of your grain intake. In the U.S., we get most of our grains from bread, so you can make a big impact on your health by choosing a whole grain bread.

For a long time, the only whole grain option was whole wheat bread, traditionally brown in color. Now we have the option of white whole wheat bread that looks like white bread but supposedly has the nutrition of the brown version. Are they really the same? Unfortunately, you still have to read the label carefully to find out.

You certainly could make a white bread with just about as much fiber as whole wheat if you baked from scratch and used a product like King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat Flour. Per 1/4 cup it has basically the same calories (10 kcals less in the “white”), fat and protein with just 1 gram of fiber less than the “brown” whole wheat (4g vs 3g). This would be a great product to use at home in place of all-purpose flour which has only 1 gram of fiber per 1/4 cup.

The white whole wheat is still made from a whole wheat kernel, just a different variety (hard white spring wheat) than traditional whole wheat flour is made from (hard red spring wheat which gives it the brown color). The white wheat does have a lighter color, lighter texture and milder taste, so it can be swapped in for all-purpose without anyone noticing! Your cookies and cakes will contain fiber but still taste great!

Photo credit to King Arthur Flour

You would think then, that a white whole wheat bread you buy at the store would be an equal substitute for traditional whole wheat bread, but unfortunately many food companies don’t choose to use the white whole wheat flour, or at least not for 100% of the flour in their recipes. When companies started making these white whole wheat breads, they wanted them to look and taste just like their white bread, with some amount of added nutrition (for marketing purposes, of course).

From the labels I have read, it seems like many companies use some of the white whole wheat flour combined with regular white(all-purpose or bread) flour and then they add a source of fiber to bump that number up on the label. This might seem okay, but from what we know about fiber is seems the biggest health benefit comes from eating it in a natural food form versus an added or modified form.